Guerillaspot

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-24T07:16:00.001-06:00

Claire: You two spoke over the Internet for two weeks, divulging personal intimate details. You leave out the fact that you're under three feet tall. Do you think that's honest?
Bethany: Look at him. Did I get Mel Gibson?
[Denny makes a pose]
Bethany: Maybe I did.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-23T07:15:00.000-06:00

Denny: I love dwarves! I was actually hoping you'd be one.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-22T07:14:00.001-06:00

Jeffrey: By the way, you are?
Denise: Drop dead.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-19T07:39:00.000-06:00

ffrey: Standing real close. It's okay. I'm a personal guy myself. As a matter of fact, I like to talk to people directly and not read their reports. That is why I went to see the coroner. Chatty little fella. Okay, that's a little too close now.
Jonathan Winant: Here's the deal.
Jefrey: I love deals!
Jonathan Winant: ... ... Do I make myself clear?
Jeffrey: You do. And if you think I've broken the law, arrest me. And insist on it. You're staring. That's cause you can't think of anything to say or Richmond told you that works. You know, when my mind goes blank, I just like to go with my old standby which is, of course,' Go screw yourself. Do I need to include instructions with that?' Everybody gives me the look.

CO2 Facts

2008-12-18T09:56:00.002-06:00

Meteorologist Brian Sussman points out the insanity of the "Climate Change" crowd, convinced that the "debate" is over and that we're all going to die unless we make drastic, large scale and expensive modifications to modern civilization. Yes, between the years 1970 and 1998 there was a small upward temperature trend of .34 degrees F. Since that time? Not so much - in fact all of the observed warming has since been reversed over the last decade.

Here's some of the facts about carbon dioxide:

"All of these insane moves by the government are being imposed upon us because of carbon dioxide -- which is not a problem. CO2 accounts for less than 4/10000ths* of our planet's atmosphere (.00036%). And what percentage of the miniscule amount of CO2 is produced by human activity, including the utilization of fossil fuels? According to a thorough analysis by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center -- a research wing of the U.S. Department of Energy -- only 3.207% -- all of this global whining over an atmospheric component so tiny, it is difficult to comprehend.

Allow me to repeat this critical fact:

Carbon dioxide comprises less than 4/10000ths of the earth atmosphere and of that amount, a mere 3% is generated by mankind. And how much has CO2 increased in the atmosphere over the past 150 years? Approximately 35%. A 35% increase and still the gas comprises less than 4/10000ths of earth's atmosphere."

Sussman also raises another disturbing and incredibly salient fact. The largest component of all greenhouse gasses is not carbon dioxide, but water vapor. Water vapor is responsible for 95% of the greenshouse effect. Yes, it's true - water vapor composes all but 5% of greenhouse gasses. We also know water vapor as humidity, which we experience in spades during the summers here in Nebraska. Humid air tends to hold in heat, and its a real benefit that it does so or the Earth would likely be a frozen mudball devoid of life. Here's Sussman's kicker:

"Curiously, research I culled from the Department of Energy fails to list water vapor as a greenhouse gas. This is incredibly disingenuous, given that, in reality, water vapor is the 600 pound gorilla in the greenhouse. After water vapor, the remaining five percent of the greenhouse gases are, in order of concentration: CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and a variety of other minor gases, including ozone, carbon monoxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. However -- stay with me here -- it must be noted that methane is 21 times more potent than CO2 when it comes to retaining the sun's heat, and nitrous oxide is 310 times more effective than CO2. Carbon dioxide is actually a puny player in the greenhouse game."

He goes on to calculate the effect human activity has on just the non-water sources of the greenhouse effect as 2.33%, accounting for the individual concentrations and potencies of the other greenhouse gases. He then does the math including water vapor, reducing the effect to .117% - just over one tenth of one percent. And for all this we are being asked to give up fossil fuels, fork over mountains of cash for "sustainable/renewable energy sources" and radically change our lifestyles.

I'm not sure there has been a larger hoax in the history of mankind with the possible exception of organized religion.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-18T07:31:00.000-06:00

Denise: [to Shirley about Jeffrey] Excuse me, but did you say this man is a partner?
Jeffrey: She did. I could be your partner.

Nuclear Power Overseas

2008-12-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

William Tucker of The American Spectator reports that while the US nucelar industry is moribund, it's full speed ahead overseas. Sad to say, but the one remaining domestic manufacturer of nuclear technology (GE) does the vast majority of their business in foreign lands.

"GE, the last man standing from the earlier nuclear era, now does most of its business in partnership with Hitachi. Newcomers such as Hyperion are blazing a trail by building miniature reactors (60 megawatt as opposed to the standard 1,000). But the horrible truth remains that, if there is a nuclear renaissance going on in the world, it is happening mostly outside our borders, pioneered by companies that never were or are no longer American."

France's widepread adoption of nuclear power has it paying the lowest electrical rates in Europe, and has it posiitoned as a leading energy exporter within Europe, and importing half the natural gas that Germany and Britain do from Russia. Finland is busy building the first new reactor in Europe in twenty years, an dFranc eis building an identical plant. Sweden has reneged on its 1980 pledge to shut down its reactors by 2010, and Intaly has announced plans to build new reactors as well. Bulgaria and the Baltic states have also announced plans for new reactors.

Outside Europe, the UAE and the Saudis are looking to build plants, Japan has 55 reactors producing 30% of its electricity and building a huge 1300 megawatt plant, South Korea is aiming to reach French percentage levels of nuclear electrity production and has 11 new reactors being constructed and Taiwan has four plants producing 20% of its electrical power. China has 21 plants in the planning stage and India expects to build 18 to 20 stations over the next 15 years.

While there are 28 Amercian plants being planned, many of the suppliers are now foreign, such as steel reactor core vessel maker Japan Steel Works or Toshiba, which purchased one time GE rival Westinghouse in 2006. The fears of nuclear power in this country and the idiocy surrounding "nuclear waste" has withered the American manufacturing base for nuclear power to the point it has - there is definitely work to be had in the industry and it's sorry to say these jobs won;t be filled by American workers.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-17T07:44:00.001-06:00

Alan: Hello.
Claire: I know who you are. You're a little horny toad. Horny toads give me warts. Hop away, horny toad.

CROWS

2008-12-16T10:50:00.000-06:00

Too freakin cool to be believed. Strategy page outlines the advent fo the CROWS remote controlled turrent gunner system, which came into play abvout three years ago. We now have remote controlled turret guns on many of our military vehicles today, and the young people assigned to control them are actually quite adept at using them due to the fact they grew up playing vidoe games. Even better, by withdrawing the availalbe targets from the top of the vehicle, the bad guys tend to get a bit disheartened, even going so far as to describe the system as "American magic".

"The remote turret tends to begin delivering accurate fire right away, and is much more immune to enemy fire than a human gunner. If the vehicle is a Stryker, the enemy will soon find themselves dealing with half a dozen or so heavily armed infantry, who get out of the vehicle and come at the ambushers. Iraqis don't like that. They also don't like how some of the CROWS turret equipped vehicles will come after them. All those accurately aimed bullets coming their way, and no enemy soldiers in sight, is demoralizing."

CROWS costs aobut $26k per vehicle, can be outfitted with either a M2.50 cal MG (good 'ol Ma Deuce), a MK19 40-mm automatic grenade launcher, a M240B 7.62mm machine-gun or a M249 5.56mm squad automatic weapon, any of which could totally ruin your day if you're on the receiving end. So far, the Army has ordered over 9000 of the systems.

Asia Ascendent?

2008-12-16T09:43:00.000-06:00

Jens F. Laurson & George A. Pieler talk about the economic crisis and point out that economics is not a zero sum game - and they believe Asia stands as the most likely to benefit from the retrenchment likely across the European and North American economic zones.

"Absent coercion, economic activity is by definition for mutual benefit, and the more people benefit, the greater the benefit. It works almost like a perpetuum mobile, except better. The more money and goods flow, the more wealth is created in the process. If economics were a car you might say: the faster you go, the more quickly your tank must fill."

As they correctly point out, the President-elect appears poised to declare winners and losers, with more regulation, higher taxes, and more protectionism. Such behaviors in the polical sphere are likely to extend the suffering. Higher taxes on capitla, energy, and interference in corporate decisonmaking through a European style industrial policy enforced through regulatory environmentla restricitons are in the offing.

Asia stands to benefit from its already lower production costs, less intrusive rgualtory environment (think India/South Korea/Taiwan more so than China) and rising domestic consumerism. Interesting parallel thoughts to those who have already declared the 21st century to inevitably be the Asian century. Of course, the US stands to benefit from its developing and increasingly close strategtic and trade partnership with India, and the new administration will eventually after either four or eight years, go the way all administrations go. It will be interesting to see how the centrists in the cabinet react to the stated policy proposals of our new chief executive.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

Claire: This is abusive. Making me leave New York. I'm gonna call my parents and tell them I'm being abused.

Big Three Bailout

2008-12-15T10:42:00.003-06:00

Larry explains why the bailout negotiations for the Detroit auto industry failed. The plan put together by Senator Bob Corker likely would have worked, but he asked the union to restructure their contracts to match that of the average foreing onwed firms, but the union would not agree to any date in 2009, instead insisting that the existing contracts stay in place until 2011 when thye expire.In effect, the UAW beleived it would get a better deal after the new Senate convenes.

"If the Detroit carmakers are in dire straits, going broke in two weeks, right now in late 2008, how can the UAW wait until 2011 to make its concessions? The financial problem is today, not two years from today. The threat of liquidation, with perhaps a few million autoworker, supplier, and car-dealer jobs lost, is today's threat, not a 2011 threat. So what's the UAW waiting for?

That's easy. Gettelfinger is waiting for President Obama and a Senate with 58 Democrats. He also was playing a game of bluff with President George W. Bush. He knew Bush had $15 billion of TARP money ready to go, meaning the TARP was Gettelfinger's trump card. The tough-minded union leader never believed the White House would let GM sink and possibly force millions of job losses in the middle of a recession."

If the union had appproved of the plan, it is thought the Senate would have passed the ligislation with as many as 90 votes. What is interesting is the impact the negotiations have had on the image recognition of Senator Corker, a former businessman in the construction industry. He got a lot of credit from both sides of the aisle for putting such a solid plan together, and he may wind up being the big political winner out of all these events.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-15T07:35:00.000-06:00

Claire: Who do we complain to here? The old people?
[Paul and Shirley get wide-eyed]

Canadian Political Crisis

2008-12-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

Great article at Maclean's explaining how the recent Canadian political crisis went down. Canda held elections quite recently in October, in which the Conservative party won a plurality and formed a minority government in their Parliament headed by Stephen Harper. Canada has three other major politcal parties, the Liberals (for many long years the most powerful Canadian party), the New Democrats (NDP) and the separatist Quebec party which often promotes the province's independence from the larger nation. Harper brought down the wrath of all three parties by proposing the end of party subsidies from government funds (based on the number of votes received from the last election). The Conservatives raise much more of their campaign funding from private sources than the other parties, so this caused the Liberals in particular to feel threatened.

The crisis erupted just a month after the election as the NDP and Liberals conspired to overthrow the Conservatives by threatening to bring a no confidence vote against Harper and form a coalition government of their own. However, the two parties alone would not have a majority in Parliament - only by including the Quebec faction would they succeed, and that may have proved their downfall. With some deft political manuevering, Harper managed to survive by having the Canadian Governor-General (Canadian Head of State) temporarily suspend Parliament. The failure of the move hastened the demise of former Liberal leader Stephon Dion and led to ascension of new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. It may have also exposed the NDP (led by Jack Layton) to permanent second rate status. The magazine sums up the article thusly:

"Whatever the outcome, the parties and their leaders all look different now. Harper survived into 2009 only through improvisation, occasional demagoguery, and constitutional brinksmanship. His reputation for strategic savvy is permanently damaged, as might be his party’s prospects among Quebecers who don’t view the Bloc as fair game for demonization. He still has only a minority, and now faces opposition leaders who distrust and dislike him, and long to humble him, more than ever. His advantage in facing Dion, a lame duck, is suddenly lost. Ignatieff might be tougher.

Layton’s long-standing behind-the-scenes interest in coalitions and co-operation with other parties is now out in the open. That will make it hard for him to claim in any future campaign, as he did in the last one, that he’s really “running for prime minister.” The distinction between New Democrat and Liberal aims is clouded, perhaps diluting the NDP brand. As for Ignatieff, he now takes over the Liberal helm, not after a bracing victory in a conventional leadership race, but through a rushed process that didn’t allow normal democratic input from his party’s members. He will have to struggle to validate his claim on the party’s heart."

Very interesting to see how things will turn out, Harper has bought himself some time until the end of January and it would not surprise me to see another election up north real soon. Opinion polling during the crisis appeared to indicate considerable suppport for the conservative government, with some 70% of Canadians disapproving of the Liberal/NDP consiracy.

Arms Control Treaties

2008-12-12T11:57:00.000-06:00

Stuart Koehl at the Weekly Standard takes a look at the latest trend from the peacenik crowd - a proposal toward the banning of cluster bombs. 100 nations signed such a treaty in Oslo recently. Cluster munitions are small bomblets that are delivered by larger delivery systems such as an artillery round or rocket, aircraft bomb or cruise missile, and can be quite sophisticated (such as an infared heat seeking warhead designed to penetrate and destroy enemy tanks) or something relatively straighforward, comparable to a hand grenade. Koehl explains what is seen as the issue:

"It is the simpler type of cluster bomb which has given the nervous nellies of the international humanitarian community the willies, mainly because the earlier versions of anti-personnel submunitions had a high dud rate (upwards of 30 percent in some instances) but remained armed and dangerous for years afterwards, creating a hazard for livestock and civilians who might accidentally tread upon them or innocently pick them up."

Not good, and I'd agree that there are issues with such weapons; however, on the flip side, there is this little nugget. There is great military utility to these weapons, as they are a very useful and lethal way of killing entrenched bad guys, as those little bombs roll into their trenches. Such weapons proved extremely useful in the Gulf Wars and the Israeli conflict with Hezbollah. The big problem with the treaty is it treats all such weapons as the same, and there are significant differences in the stockpiles of nations that produce them. The US stocks, for instance, doesn't have the problem of leftover munitions as the bomblets are self-sanitizing and deactivate themselves after a few hours time. Such smaller munitions often actually allow for more precision in dropping the bad guys and reduce collatoral damage to buildings and the people in them, really a good thing when there are civilians in the area.

Keohl points out the technical side of the equation, pointing out that if you don't use lots of little bombs to get the job done, you've got to use a really big one:

"Submunitions were developed because unitary munitions are very inefficient: most of their blast and fragmentation effect is directed outward from the point of impact, which means that the lethal radius increases only as the cube root of weapon yield. Thus, a 500-lb bomb can create a crater some 25 meters across and can destroy soft targets in the open out to several hundred meters, but a 1000-lb bomb gets you only less than 100 meters more lethal radius for a doubling of the weight. At the point of impact, a unitary weapon produces massive overkill--but the effect falls off rapidly as one moves away from the point of detonation. Submunitions, in contrast, disperse uniformly over a large area. While each submunition has a rather limited blast effect (most dual-purpose submunitions weigh about 1-2 kg), because several hundred are sewn over an area of several hundred meters, the entire area has a uniformly high kill probability."

A 1000 pounder does the neighborhood really no good. Koehl says the issue reminds him of the landmine issue, which is admittedly another problem, but he also points out that it isn't one to which 9again) the US contributes. It's the irresponsible use of mines by aggressor states and their terrorist clients that are causing all the problems with civilian casualties. In a modern tactical sense, mines are very useful items to have around your perimeter to slow the enemy or to constrain the movement of the whatever bad guys you might be facing into prepared areas where you can pour down the thunder on them. Mines are probably one of the major items in preventing a renewal of the Korean War, making it very difficult for Dr. Poofy Hair's half million man army from re-invading the South. As the author puts it:

"Instead of banning mines, the international community should look to real cause of civilian mine casualties--the use of mines by unlawful combatant groups that don't care about civilian casualties anyway (I include the Soviet Union among these unlawful combatants, since they deployed in Afghanistan mines that were designed to look like children's toys), and the use of mines by badly trained armies that do not follow the well established procedures for laying minefields, including marking the extent of the fields, drawing diagrams of the fields so that they may be traversed, and removing the mines once their tactical utility has ended. We do all of those things; most of our enemies do not. Technology is helping to reduce the potential for civilian casualties due to "lost" mines. As with submunitions, most of our mines now have electronic fuses that operate off a battery with a very limited life. When the battery dies, the mine becomes inert. You would really have to work hard to set one off after that point. Since mines can be made from just about anything (the VC used a wooden box, a lump of C4 plastic explosive, a 7.62mm rifle cartridge and a nail), banning mines will really only affect Western standing armies, which for the most part use their mines in a responsible manner. It does nothing at all to inhibit people like al Qaeda, Hamas, or Hezbollah, who can always make their own, minus all the safety features."

Yet another empty gesture by the feel good crowd that accomplishes no real benefit to anyone and makes them feel morally superior and able to lecture the big boys, most of whom will just ignore them anyway. China, Russia, India, Israel, Pakistan, and Brazil, along with the US, didn't sign the treaty.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-12T10:09:00.001-06:00

Claire: Okay, before we start, I want it on the record that I am very uncomfortable deposing a dwarf.
Bethany: What's that supposed to mean?
Claire: It means I'm uncomfortable. I don't need any victims rights groups picketing outside my condo. Not to mention the fact you obviously have deep psychological issues to accept any date with a seventy-two year old man, let alone...
[stares at Denny]
Claire: Him.

Coach Pelini's Six Strengths

2008-12-11T11:53:00.000-06:00

Sam McKewon reviews the first year of the Pelini regime and also finds six strengths or items of note to the new Husker leader and his team.

First, while the team often started slowly, falling behind 113-98 in the opening quarter, the defense made adjustments (an idea Kevin Cosgrove should adopt for certain) and allowed the offense to spark some furious come from behind efforts including wins against Baylor and Colorado as well as a near misses versus Virginia Tech and Texas Tech. This was something almost entirely lacking in the Callahan years other than the lone come from behind win against A & M in 2006.

Secondly, Pelini's defensive philosophy appears tailored well to the current times, with a defensive scheme designed to compete with the plethora of spread offenses, one in which the base defense doesn't have to substitute against offensive personnel packages.

"Pelini wants a fast, agile defense, one durable and flexible enough to withstand offensive personnel changes from play to play without making its own. Pelini was forced to use a whole array of packages and players in 2008, calling on guys like Matt Holt and Matt May, linebackers in safeties’ bodies, to attack spread offenses. Long term, Pelini wants two dominant safeties, active linebackers and a couple heroes in the interior defensive line. This how the great college defenses are generally built today, with a back seven who can cover and tackle in space, with two shortish fireplugs down low."

Darren over at Big Red Network has also noted the DT recruits being pursued appear to be short and thick types, while the defensive backs are tall guys who can run with the big wideouts prevalent throughout the conference. Four of the five DB commits for 2009 are over 6 foot. He also noted that NU is pursuing kids from big time high school programs that are used to winning.

Thirdly, McKewon sees that Pelini doesn't throw the kids or other coaches under the bus after a loss, he takes the heat himself, which is a nice change from the previous regime. Watson appears to have the same attitude, telling reporters after the CU game he made a "stupid call" when Ganz was sacked to set up the third and 25 that led to the 57 yd FG from Alex Henery to win the game.

Next he addresses the impact hire of S & C Coach Jim Dobson from Iowa, which has led to a much trimmer squad able run and swarm to the ball on defense. Quick, lean and athletic with explosiveness is the new watchword in Lincoln. Another major change noted is in "saving for the future" and not burning players redshirts for special teams play or a particular opponent. (The loss of LB Lance Brandenburg's eligibility due to a handful of special teams plays five years ago still burns particularly bright in many minds.)

Last, he covers the fact that Pelini "gets it" when it comes to the peculiar and unique fan base that comprises the Husker Nation, and the obvious comraderie that exists between Pelini and his staff and the rest of the university's sports coaches, such as Doc Sadler, Mark Manning and John Cook.

"Making allies comes easily for Pelini. He might be better at it than Tom Osborne was, to be honest. Inter-departmental relationships are not a small thing, folks.
Former athletic director Steve Pederson flunked that part of the exam and nobody, outside his coaching staff, really seemed to know Callahan. Pelini stops at a local coffee shop nearly every morning before he drops his kids off for school, signs autographs, orders his drinks – you know, the regular people stuff. Those little details are the glue that helps makes a football coach an institution, and not just the richest public employee in the state."

Such little things go a long ways towards creating an atmosphere of trust and admiration with his customers (us fans) all across the state. Callahan certainly didn't understand it. Bo most certainly does, and has already achieved near cult status because of it.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-11T07:37:00.001-06:00

Alan: To next season, my friend.
Denny: Same night?
Alan: God, I hope.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-10T07:37:00.002-06:00

Denny: Yes your honor, he gets me off, I get him off.
Alan: We're like flamingos.
Denny: Don't ask, don't tell.

3 European Undergrads Discover Planet

2008-12-09T12:17:00.002-06:00

via Livescience, the satory of 3 Dutch undergradate students that have discovered a planet, and a mightly unique one as it it the first to be discoverdd orbiting around a fast rotating star and is also the hottest star (at 12,000 degrees F) ever found to have a planet.

"It is exciting not just to find a planet, but to find one as unusual as this one; it turns out to be the first planet discovered around a fast-rotating star, and it's also the hottest star found with a planet," said one of the planet's discoverers, Meta de Hoon of Leiden University in The Netherlands. The other Leiden-student team members included Remco van der Burg and Francis Vuijsje."

The planet called OGLE2-TR-L9b, is around 5 Jupiter masses and orbits the star devery 2 1/2 days, and was found by the transit method (measuring the slightly detectable drop in light as the planet passes in front of its parent star). It is extremely close to its star, only .03 astronomical units. Their discovery was confirmed by the European Space Agency's VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile.

Very cool achievement for these young people.

Buffalo Bulls and Turner Gill

2008-12-09T11:46:00.003-06:00

Late congrats to the the MAC champion Buffalo Bulls and their Head Coach, former Husker QB and coach Turner Gill. Buffalo, winners of only 10 games in the seven seasons previous to hiring Gill, went 8-5 this year to win its first conference title. Facing previously unbeaten Ball St and given little chance to win the game, Buffalo forced four turnovers, inlcuding two fumble recoveries for TDs, to defeat the Cardinals 42-24.

"The Bulls (8-5) capped the program's first bowl-eligible season since joining college football's top tier of teams in 1999. Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel said the school accepted an invitation to play in Toronto's International Bowl.

"To have the game an hour and a half away is a reward for our fans," coach Turner Gill said.

Manuel said members of Buffalo's 1958 team will join the current program on the trip because they turned down a chance to play in the Tangerine Bowl because their black players wouldn't have been able to participate.

"The 1958 team deserves a bowl experience," Manuel said.

Gill is supposedly under consideration for the open head coaching gigs at both Syracuse and Auburn, and is one of only four black head coaches at the BCS level (OWH story here). Gill faced a great deal of skepticism in interviewing for head jobs after leaving NU due to the fact he had never served as a coordinator, but the Buffalo AD (also black) took a flyer on the former NU star, who was the the Green Bay Packers of the NFL as Player Director after leaving NU under Bill Callahan. Also of note is the great job former NU LB/DE Jimmie Williams is doing as Gill's DC.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-09T07:35:00.000-06:00

Judge Sanders: Mr. Shore! The court instructed you not to poop!

Recession Started in 2007?

2008-12-08T07:40:00.000-06:00

Randall Hoven @ The American Thinker questions the NBER's calling of the last two recessions, using their own data and definitions. The NBER is the "official" body responsible for announcing recessions.

"The rule of thumb for defining a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative real growth in GDP. This is now the second recession called by the NBER in the two terms of President George W. Bush, yet in neither case were there two such consecutive quarters. In fact, at no time in Bush's Presidency were there two such quarters.

Of all 11 NBER-called recessions since 1947, only one other involved no two consecutive quarters of negative real growth. That was the recession of April 1960 to February 1961. However, that recession involved one quarter with significant negative growth, -5.1% annualized, and a cumulative -1.0% growth for a whole year."

Neither the 2001 or 2007 recession had two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and both had year to year gains (Q4 2000 to Q4 2001, +.2%, Q3 2007 to Q3 2007, +.7%). In all other nine recessions since WW2, there was at least in quarter of year over year negative growth.

The NBER actually assignes the start of the 2001 recession in March, yet the first quarter of negative growth (-.5%) was actually in Q3 2000, under President Clinton. Yet the same figure in March under President Bush is called the beginning of the recession. The Q4 2007 number is better (-.2%) yet, but that is also a recession. ???

Hoven takes a quick look at unemployment figures, yet the 4.3% number from March 2001was better than every month of the Clinton presidency before March 1999. The December 2007 number of 5.0% actually improved over the next two months, and UE was still 5.0% in April 2008. But the NBER still calls it a recession, even though UE never dropped under 5.0% under Clinton until May 1997 - without a recession.

NBER says it also looks at the "income side". Hoven examines Disposable Personal Income (DPI) numbers in late 2000 and ealry 2001, and finds another curious result. Three of the last four months of 2000, DPI declined, but no recession. Yet in the first three months of 2001, DPI increased, and it was (supposedly) a recession. Strikes one as a bit odd, don't you think? Hoven looked at all the numbers from 1947 forward, and here's what he found.

"That is, without trying really hard, using real GDP data easily available from the St. Louis Fed only, and programming simple rules in a spreadsheet, I was able to match 9 of the 11 NBER-called recessions, with no false alarms and with, at most, one quarter mis-match in timing. The only two exceptions in any of this? The two recessions under George W. Bush."

Interesting. And as Hoven points out, there is no real transparency in how the committee determines recession, only "rules of thumb", which apparently in the case of the last President, don't really apply.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-08T07:34:00.000-06:00

A.D.A. Kupfer: Mr. Shore, I hope one day to speak at your funeral.

US-India Partnership

2008-12-05T13:10:00.000-06:00

Investor's Business Daily has a good article on the growing strategic partnership between the US and the world's largest democracy, India. The article points out that not only Secretary of State Rice visited India last week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen was in Islamabad talking to the Pakistani government, underscoring the criticality of the region to US interests.

"The entire picture shows something that isn't well-known: India is not just an ally but now a top ally in what the State Department calls a "priority relationship" with the U.S. It's bound to be good for the U.S., and may amount to a worthy end to the war on terror.

"I believe that this partnership will be for the 21st century one of the most important partnerships that our country, the United States, has with any country around the world," former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in a 2007 speech. "I would wager that in 20 or 30 years time, most Americans will say that India is one of our two or three most important partners worldwide."

This "natural alliance" started with the private sector, eventually tilting U.S. strategic interests toward India. In 1991, India opened its economy to the world, cutting tariffs and bureaucracy, and luring investment and talent. U.S.-India trade, $5 billion in 1991, hit $42 billion in 2007. The result: double-digit economic growth, a new consumer market and a billion people with a stake in peace."

While President Clinton visited India in 2000, it has been the Bush administration, in particular Secretary Rice, that has evolved the diplomatic relationship with the end of nuclear sanction in 2005 and the 2006 civilian nuclear agreement. The partnership also has a natural strategic focus given the issues found in neighboring Pakistan. With the inclusion of a major regional power like India in the war on terrorism, it become far less US centric and has the potential to shift the global perception toward one of simply defending the concept of free market democracies.

Secondly, in strategic terms it allows the US to maintain its military naval focus on the Atlantic and Pacific regions while allowing India to exert its growing strength in its home waters of the Indian Ocean, all the while keeping important trade routes open being in the interest of both countries as well as the world at large.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-05T07:38:00.000-06:00

[Discussing a case concerning cannibals]
Shirley: Because this case is disgusting, it's distasteful, it's repugnant...
Alan: Everything I stand for.
Shirley: I'll drive.
Alan: Shirley, is this about getting in a room with me?
Shirley: [sarcastically] Yes, Alan, I went out and recruited a cannibal just to get close to you.

Husker BB Still Undefeated

2008-12-04T09:26:00.003-06:00

Doc Sadler's crew is still undefeated after winning 80-51 over Alabama State last night. NU hit 14 of 25 from 3-land (56%) and had a season high scoring effort with a nicely balanced attack.

"Steve Harley scored 16 points to lead four Huskers in double figures. Toney McCray scored 12, and Ryan Anderson and Sek Henry had 11 apiece. Miller and Paul Velander had nine apiece."

NU also had a season high in assists with 23 with only 11 turnovers. Huskers also outrebounded the far bigger St squad 35-28. Doc was also happy with the team's hustle and effort throughout the contest.

“It’s easy to get on the floor for a loose ball if it’s a two- or three-point ball game,” Sadler said. “But when we were up 25 or 30, we had two or three guys on the floor every time on a loose ball. I mean, guys, that’s a coach’s dream, and that’s the way these guys have been all year.”

Next up for NU is at #19 Arizona St.

Liberty on the Move?

2008-12-04T09:18:00.001-06:00

Nick Gillespie and Matt Welsch examine the Libertarian movement and how far things have progresses in America since the party's founding in 1971. At that point, President Nixon was imposing wage and price controls on key sectors of the economy. But just around the corner was deregulation, free agency in sports, the beginnings of the computer age, including the Internet, and eventually the fall of Communist Europe. And while things may appear to a bit gloomy today, there is hope for optimism.

"We are in fact living at the cusp of what should be called the Libertarian Moment, the dawning not of some fabled, clichéd, and loosey-goosey Age of Aquarius but a time of increasingly hyper-individualized, hyper-expanded choice over every aspect of our lives, from 401(k)s to hot and cold running coffee drinks, from life-saving pharmaceuticals to online dating services. This is now a world where it’s more possible than ever to live your life on your own terms; it’s an early rough draft version of the libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick’s glimmering “utopia of utopias.” Due to exponential advances in technology, broad-based increases in wealth, the ongoing networking of the world via trade and culture, and the decline of both state and private institutions of repression, never before has it been easier for more individuals to chart their own course and steer their lives by the stars as they see the sky. If you don’t believe it, ask your gay friends, or simply look who’s running for the White House in 2008."

Their point is that free markets have been adopted nearly world-wide as the best way to organize the economy, and democratic government is generally seen as the least objectionable form of political organization. The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom has seen only global increases in its ratings for over a decade now. Best of all, even if they've never heard of the term, the effect the Internet has had on world youth has been effectively, well, Libertarian. The world is becoming more free, more prosperous, and despite the best efforts of the radical Islamic movement, war and violence is actually declining globally.

The authors believe it is only a matter of time before the freedoms we are experiencing in economic and artistic matters express themselves in the form of politicla movements, and they could be correct. It is certainly an interesting take on current events and trends.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-04T07:16:00.001-06:00

Alan: Excuse me, I realize you're new to this office but we have a zero-tolerance policy here when it comes to sexual harassment.
Claire: Ha! [points to Denny] Tubby over there groped me when I came off the elevator.
Alan: Did he grunt as he groped? Because I found as long as he's not grunting you're perfectly fine.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-03T07:15:00.001-06:00

[Melissa walks in on Alan and Marlene having sex in the photocopying room]
Alan: We're developing pictures.
Marlene: We're photography buffs.

Plate Tectonics Earlier Than Thought

2008-12-02T12:27:00.004-06:00

via Astrobiology, news of research into Earth's ancient past appears to indicate the presence of water and the geophysics of the plate tectonic system far earlier than previous estimates. New analysis by UCLA geochemists of extremely early forming zircon chrystals found in ancient magma fields show that the chrystals formed at a much lower temperature than can be explained without the presence of water. Furthermore, the evidence seems to indicate that the crystals could not have formed anywhere but in a subduction zone, where colliding tectonic seafloor plates move underneath the continental plates.

"We are proposing that there was plate-tectonic activity in the first 500 million years of Earth's history," said geochemistry professor Mark Harrison, director of UCLA's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and co-author of the Nature paper. "We are reporting the first evidence of this phenomenon."

"Unlike the longstanding myth of a hellish, dry, desolate early Earth with no continents, it looks like as soon as the Earth formed, it fell into the same dynamic regime that continues today," Harrison said. "Plate tectonics was inevitable, life was inevitable. In the early Earth, there appear to have been oceans; there could have been life — completely contradictory to the cartoonish story we had been telling ourselves."

The crystal analysis was done by an ion microprobe, which shoots beams of ions into a substance to determine its precise chemical composition by means of a mass spectrometer. The analysis of the zircon samples found in Western Australia showed ages exceeding 4 billion years. The accepted theories of plate tectonics had the system starting much more recently, no more than 3.5 billion years ago. The Earth is thought to have formed around 4.5 billion years from today.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-02T07:14:00.001-06:00

Marlene: Brad, did you hear? Denise is getting married.
Brad: [to Denise] Really?
Denise: I was going to tell you.
Marlene: Sometimes it's easier to hear it from a third party.
[Denise attempts to hit Marlene, but she ducks as Denise's arm flies past]
Marlene: [emotionless] That could've hit me.

Primary Election Process

2008-12-01T09:13:00.005-06:00

Excellent article at Human Events by Jack Thompson on the failed primary election process and the issue of open primaries, where anyone is allowed to vote in either party's election. The issue was decisive in the selection of John McCain as the Republican nominee as independents and Democrats tilted severla races in his favor while actual Republicans voters selected candidates such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. McCain never achieved a registered Republican voter majority in any state up to Super Tuesday.

"Dr. Marni Ezra, who teaches political science at Maryland’s Hood College, has proven and written that “closed primaries” -- ones in which only a party’s registered Republicans or Democrats are allowed to vote in their respective primaries -- produce winners more true to the ideology of their respective bases. Closed Republican primaries tend to produce more conservative nominees and Republican “open primaries” -- ones in which independents and/or Democrats can vote -- produce more moderate nominees."

Thompson asked three of the leading RNC Chair candidates about the issue, and two, both Michael Steel of Maryland and Katon Dawson of South Carloina, replied they are open to the idea of having only closed primaries being discussed. south bCarolina has an open system and Maryland's is closed, but Steel experienced the issue as Maryland experimented with an open primary whil ehe was state party chair.

What is really interesting is that the National Committee, rather than the individual state parties holds the legal cards. The Supreme Court has issued rulings that indicate that the constitutional right to free association gives the political party the right to determine its membership requirements, and any state which fails to do so could potentially face the prospect of not having its delegates seated to the national convention.

Very interesting, and probably long overdue in my opinion. The party;s cnadidate should reflect the desires and the beliefs of its memebers, and I think John McCain falied in that regard on several issues. The issue isn't just a Republican one either; a large number of Republicans crossed the lines to vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries in order to sow chaos in the Democratic process.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-12-01T07:13:00.000-06:00

Alan: There used to be a day when the pandering in our society was reserved for…
Denny: Politicians?
Alan: [laughs] Maybe that's what bothers me. Hollywood has sunk to the level of Congress.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-27T07:36:00.000-06:00

Shirley: Your Honor, Mr. Tiggs has a history of ruining women's lives. There's one out there right now. It's going to take her years to get over this.
Ivan: No, she'll get over me, she's like a goldfish. She has a three second memory.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

2008-11-27T07:06:00.001-06:00

Eating too much turkey makes you sleepy, so fill up on stuffing and pumpkin pie instead.

Yet Another Cimate Model Issue

2008-11-26T11:20:00.000-06:00

In another item of interest, ScienceDaily reports that soil studies of black carbon, the organic residue from burned and decomposed matter found in the earth, indicates that global climate models are consistently overestimating the release of carbon dioxide gas from black carbon. In fact, climate models are generally supposing a postive reinforcement of these releases, one in which warming leads to the release of more Co2 which in causes more warming. However in the largest study of black carbon ever conducted, it has been found that the Co2 remains sequester far longer than initally thought, perhaps as much as 2,000 years.

"Climate models try to incorporate these increases of carbon dioxide from soils as the planet warms, but results vary greatly when realistic estimates of black carbon in soils are included in the predictions, the study found. Soils include many forms of carbon, including organic carbon from leaf litter and vegetation and black carbon from the burning of organic matter. It takes a few years for organic carbon to decompose, as microbes eat it and convert it to carbon dioxide. But black carbon can take 1,000-2,000 years, on average, to convert to carbon dioxide.

By entering realistic estimates of stocks of black carbon in soil from two Australian savannas into a computer model that calculates carbon dioxide release from soil, the researchers found that carbon dioxide emissions from soils were reduced by about 20 percent over 100 years, as compared with simulations that did not take black carbon's long shelf life into account. The findings are significant because soils are by far the world's largest source of carbon dioxide, producing 10 times more carbon dioxide each year than all the carbon dioxide emissions from human activities combined. Small changes in how carbon emissions from soils are estimated, therefore, can have a large impact."

In addition, the modelers genreally assume a relatively uniform distibution of black carbon, but the new study shows that the substance can vary from as much as 80 percent in a soil sample to nearly zero. So what we have here, again, is a major Co2 source (actually THE major source. 10 times that produced by all of humanity), one completely out of the control of humanity, being over estimated in global climate models.

And Al Gore says "the science is settled." What a load.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana

2008-11-26T11:01:00.000-06:00

I discovered another biographical sketch of a prominent (and perhaps appealing) Republican leader, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana at Forbes (via RCP) from Reihan Salam. Daniels has gone on record against the auto bailout, and might make an a formidable contrast to President Obama in 2012. Daniels certainly understands economic policy and budgets, having served as OMB director under President Bush and managing the Indiana state budget extremely well as governor.

"He has also managed to keep Indiana's state budget in the black despite the downturn, thanks in large part to aggressive budget cutting in his first term. In fact, Daniels is known for his personal stinginess as well. Even as a successful business executive, rumor has it that he kept his own family on a tight allowance. He took a number of controversial steps to secure Indiana's fiscal future, among them a decision to lease the Indiana Toll Road to raise revenue for infrastructure improvements throughout the state. Though he was attacked for this measure early on, he's won the grudging respect of voters in the state, Republican and Democrat. It's worth noting Daniels won reelection with the help of thousands of voters who also voted for Obama."

Interesting that there are already pundits looking at potential 2012 before Obama even has taken office. I'd say there should be more interest and focus squarely on the 2010 races and improving the Senate seat count in particular.

Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair?

2008-11-26T10:33:00.004-06:00

Another hat may get into the ring for RNC chair - Ken Blackwell of Ohio. Blackwell, a former Mayor and City Councilman from Cincinnati, was also Ohio Secretary of State and State Treasurer, Under Secrtary of Housing & Urban Development under Bush Sr., as well as US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission. He lost the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial race to Ted Strickland. Blackwell is a well known conservative columnist at Townhall (like Fred Thompson) and is a strong propenent of limited ogvernment and a flat tax. Blackwell espoused the following principles in his failed 2006 run in an interview with Terence Heffrey:

"When Blackwell was running for governor of Ohio in 2006, I asked him what he believed to be the core principles the Republican Party must defend. "First, that the individual is at the center of our political system, not the state, not government," he said. "I believe in limited government. I actually believe that free men and free women and free markets can overcome any kind of economic challenge."

"I trust in people to make good decisions," he added. "I understand there are things, but only a limited number of things, that government can do that individuals and communities of individuals cannot do by themselves."

Club for Growth President Pat Toomey appears inclined to support Blackwell, stating:

"I think Ken would be a great chairman," Club for Growth President Pat Toomey told me this week. "He understands the importance of holding the coalition that can restore the Republican Party to its majority. He's a solid conservative. He's a very appealing guy. He will go over well with not just the Republican base but also with the moderate Republicans and independents that we need to attract and energize. "I think he would be a great choice," said Toomey."

Like another RNC candidate, Michael Steel, Blackwell is African-American. Blackwell's latest op-ed at Twonhall is here. In it he reminds readers that things looked pretty dark for the GOP after the 1992 election defeat, but the party took both houses of Congress just two years later.

Republican House Leaders

2008-11-26T09:04:00.003-06:00

A little more on politics today, as Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn reports on the House Republican elections at Human Events (Disclosure: I contributed to Lamborn's 2006 and 2008 campaigns). While the caucus re-elected John Boehner to Minority Leader, (despite opposition from Dan Lungren of California) they did bring in some new blood in the persons of Eric Cantor of Virginia as minority whip and Mike Pence of Indiana as conference chairman. The return of Pence to a leadership will have strong endorsement from the conservative establishment, and was a bit of a surprise. It was expected that the outgoing chair of the Republican Study Group, Jeb Hensarling of TExas, might make a ply for the spot but he passed in favor of Pence. Pence does brign a lot to the table for a party struggling with its identity and how to reach voters.

"In Pence’s acceptance statement, he made three points. Every single member must be highly involved in taking back the House, Republicans need to be happy warriors, and the Republican Party needs once again to be the party of ideas.

Pence’s acknowledged media skills -- he worked previously in broadcasting -- make him a natural for the high-profile conference chairman slot. He will not only be working frequently with Boehner and Cantor to fashion and express the Republican message but will be helping individual House members be effective communicators within their own spheres. Pence also has a history of standing up to Republican leadership when he believed they departed from Republican values while he was chairman a few years ago of the conservative Republican Study Committee."

Policy chair Thaddus McCotter of Michigan was re-elected and Pete Sessions of Texas was elected as NRCC chair. Lamborn believes that some of the criticism of Boehner is a bit unjustififed, as he has held the leadership only one term. Unencumbered by a Republican administration that often asked for compromise with the opposition, the House is likely to quite a bit more vocal on many issues.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-26T07:31:00.000-06:00

Alan: If I should ever like to drive your car...
Denny: I toss you my keys.
Alan: If I should ever need any money...
Denny: My check is blank.
Alan: Or need to pick your brain...
Denny: My mind is blank.
Alan: Anything you have, or once did have, is there for me.
Denny: Except for Shirley. Keep your root away from Shirley.

Consequences of an EMP Attack

2008-11-25T10:07:00.002-06:00

Brian Kennedy @ yesterday's WSJ takes a look at the consequences of an electro-magnetic pulse attack on the US, and the results aren't pretty. There are now nearly thirty nations with ballistic missile capability on the globe, and the number is only likely to increase in the near term. While the number of nations that could conceivably directly threaten the US isn't large today, it also will only increase over time, and many of these nations DO threaten US strategic and regional interests, such as the Straight of Hormuz, the Staight of Malacca and the Horn of Africa.

Here's a scenario for you that isn't terribly far fetched.

"Let us say the freighter ship launches a nuclear-armed Shahab-3 missile off the coast of the U.S. and the missile explodes 300 miles over Chicago. The nuclear detonation in space creates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

Gamma rays from the explosion, through the Compton Effect, generate three classes of disruptive electromagnetic pulses, which permanently destroy consumer electronics, the electronics in some automobiles and, most importantly, the hundreds of large transformers that distribute power throughout the U.S. All of our lights, refrigerators, water-pumping stations, TVs and radios stop running. We have no communication and no ability to provide food and water to 300 million Americans.

This is what is referred to as an EMP attack, and such an attack would effectively throw America back technologically into the early 19th century. It would require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is certainly attainable. Common sense would suggest that, absent food and water, the number of people who could die of deprivation and as a result of social breakdown might run well into the millions.
Let us be clear. A successful EMP attack on the U.S. would have a dramatic effect on the country, to say the least. Even one that only affected part of the country would cripple the economy for years. Dropping nuclear weapons on or retaliating against whoever caused the attack would not help. And an EMP attack is not far-fetched."

Kennedy goes on to say the Iranians have been testing just such missile launches in the Caspian Sea teice over the last eight years.

The only defense against these potential and future threats is the full scale development of ballistic missle defenses. I've been a believer in this technology for over twenty years, and nothing I've seen or heard since that time has convinced me the idea of developing DEFENSIVE weapons capable of stopping a nuclear, chemical or biological attack on US or friendly foreign soil is a bad idea. The best way to accomplish this is through a multi-layered approach consisting of a method to stop missiles shortly after launch, in mid flight as they temporarily leave the atmosphere, and once again as they approach their targets. This strategic direction was pointed out by Army General Daniel Graham almost twenty-five years ago in his book High Frontier. President Reagan adopted much of Graham's proposal in 1983.

The technology for much of this already exists; we have both a "point defense" capability to track and shoot down incoming missiles based in Alaska (and are negotiating to place a similiar site in Europe), and also have a forward looking "boost phase" capability to destroy a missile shortly after launch using the US Navy's Aegis system, along with an air-based laser system place on a Boeing 747. The sea-based system is currently the most promising, with the Navy's SM-3 interceptor missile showing a robust capability in testing. It also has a modest price tag, costing about only $20 million to modify a ship, and with the added bonus that allied vessels of naitons such as Japan are also capable of being upgraded.

But the most critical component is desperately starved of funds. We are currently lacking a space-based boost and/or mid flight defense that would likely be the most capable and effective leg of the defense triad, although the tehcnology exists, it was killed under the Clinton administration, and has yet to be revived.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-25T06:54:00.001-06:00

Denny: Welcome, to Boston Legal.
Claire: Jeffrey, the gross man is fondling me.
Denny: It's the official firm greeting.
[squeezes Claire's butt]
Denny: Cue the music.

Carbon Dioxide Discovered in Alien Planet Atmosphere

2008-11-24T11:53:00.004-06:00

Astronomers have announced the discovery of carbon dioxide on an alien exoplanet orbiting a star 65 light years from our own system. While the planet, HD 189733b, is a"hot" Jupiter orbiting too close to its parent star to support life, it is remarkable that we have now been able to determine how to discover three of the four major chemical compounds that are indicators of alien life.

" "This is the first detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet, which means that three of the Big Four biomarkers for habitable/inhabited worlds have now been seen: water, methane, and now carbon dioxide," explained Alan Boss, a planet-formation theorist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington who was not involved in the finding. "The only one that has not yet been detected is oxygen/ozone."

Boss told SPACE.com that the detections provide "proof of concept" for what astronomers would search for in looking at an Earth-like world. The detection of carbon dioxide, Boss said, was made with a low degree of resolving power, the sort that could be provided by NASA's planned Terrestrial Planet Finder."

The discovery was made by Giovanna Tinetti of University College in London, England, and used a novel technique of measuring the light from the star both when the planet was in front of the star and behind the star, and using the difference to determine what light was coming from the planet and doing a spectral analysis.

Pretty cool.

Obama Cabinet, Economic Team

2008-11-24T07:31:00.005-06:00

via MSNBC, the incoming Obama administration named the major players of its economic team to attempt to smooth the financial roller coaster the globe has been riding the last two months. Current NY Fed President Timothy Greithner will be nominated as Treasury Secretary, while his mentor Lawrence Summers (former Treasury man under the Clinton administration) will chair the National Economic Council. New Mexico Governor and former Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson will be nominated for Commerce. In addition, it is expected that Hillary Clinton will accept the position of Secretary of State.

"The emphasis on the economy began Saturday when Obama outlined the framework to save or create 2.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. The scope of the recovery package is far more ambitious than Obama had spelled out during his presidential campaign, when he proposed $175 billion of spending and tax-cutting stimulus. The new plan will be significantly larger and incorporate his campaign ideas for new jobs in environmentally friendly technologies — the "green economy." It also would include his proposals for tax relief for middle- and lower-income workers."

In a mild surprise, Obama is not calling for a tax increase on upper income households, instead expecting to merely let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011. One number being bandied about for the size of the package is $600 billion, although there is apparently no indication where it all going to come from. I imagine the presses at the Fed are going to be very busy in the coming months.

Libertarian Defense of Social Conservatives

2008-11-24T06:55:00.002-06:00

Randal Hoven at the American Thinker defends the social conservative movement from a libertarian perspective. As he points out, the soc cons are not the ones telling us to wear our seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, banning smoking in public places or restricting gun onwership - it's our liberal friends preventing you from doing those things. As he puts it:

"I can get pornography right at my keyboard, or drive a mile and get all the sex toys I can fit into my car. I can walk to the nearest casino to gamble (but can no longer smoke there). I do need to travel to Nevada for a legal prostitute. If my teenage daughters had wanted abortions, they could have had them free and without even notifying me. (However, had they taken Advil to school, we'd all be in trouble.)"

None of this makes a great deal of sense to me, but this is world we all live in. You cna't have a nativity scene on public land at Christmas, but a government sponsored art program subsidizes tremendously offensive depictions of the crucifixtion and that's OK. Hoven also points out that is was Lenin, Mao and Pol Pot that wanted to create a "new man" that left us with tens of millions of dead. He also points out that the economic conservative, social liberal is pretty much a myth. Those that tend to vote conservative on social issues are also economic conservatives, and vise versa. In short, the social cons are also financial cons and we all just want to be left alone in peace, government be damned. Amen.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-24T06:54:00.001-06:00

Alan: Shirley, the truth is I only took this case to be in court with you. I enjoy your company. So, if I can't join you on cases, I'll just have to oppose you. Or I could just oppose you right now against the wall. That would certainly make me happy

Weather on Eris

2008-11-21T09:03:00.002-06:00

Astronomers examining the dwarf planet/plutoid Eris, which orbits far outside even fellow dwarf Pltuo, has weather related to its position in its orbit around the sun. Winds are generated from the warm sun facing side to the cold side facing away from the sun, resulting in nitrogen and methane "snow" being deposited around the cold side pole. Eris is the largest of the dwarf planets, larger than Pluto, with a diameter of 15-1800 miles.

"Currently, Eris is at its farthest distance to the sun, called aphelion, along its about 560-year orbit, meaning the planet is nearly 100 astronomical units (AU) from the sun, or about 9 billion miles (14 billion km). Along its orbit, Eris sweeps as close as 38 AU to the sun when at perihelion. Due to Eris' tilt, a different hemisphere faces the sun when at perihelion and aphelion."

Nitrogen would sublimate (turn from ice directly to gas without passing through a liquid state) as the planet heated up, followed by the methane as the temperature increased. Researchers were looking for a reason to explain the amount of nitrogen buried below the surface of the pole they can observe at this point in the planet's orbiut and this theory appears to match the observable data.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-21T07:26:00.001-06:00

Brad: I was wondering if I could join you and Denny on the balcony sometime. Just trying to diversify my life with some male bonding and I was wondering...you know.
Alan: Brad, any gathering of three or more men always seems like a team to me, and I've never been much of a team player, so if you're going to show count me out. [pauses] Was there something specific you'd like to talk about?
Brad: Are you a good kisser?

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-20T07:12:00.000-06:00

Courtney: Mr Crane? I need you to stop staring at me like that.
Denny Crane: Of course. Marry me.
Courtney: I beg your pardon?
Denny Crane: Your fifteen minutes are almost up. Mine has lasted a lifetime. [to Barry] Tell her.
Barry: Marry him.

Beginning of Civilization?

2008-11-19T11:58:00.000-06:00

found this via Foxnews, a report on a potentially revolutionary ground breaking discovery in South-Eastern Turkey near the city of Sanliurfa. An ancient temple complex of massive stone construction reminiscient of Stonehenge called Gobekli Tepe (meaning Hill of the navel in Turkish) which was discovered in 1994 and has been under examination by a German-led archaeological team headed by Klaus Schmidt is now estimated to be over 10,000 years old. This means organized society capable of monumental architecture existed before agriculture, before pottery, before the rise of urban cities, and long before the written word.

Stonehenge dates back to around 2000-2500 (although people likely gathered at the site before the stone megaliths were located there). The date for the beginning of civilization usually begins in Sumeria around 3500 BCE, around 5-6,000 years ago. The Gobelki Tepe temple is more than twice as old, dating back to 9000-10,000 BCE. Prior to this discovery, the oldest stone structure known, found on the island of Malta, dated to around the same period as the rise of Sumerian civilization. The idea that a primitive hunter-getherer society could undertake such enormous scale monument building is unprecedented.

"These T-shaped ochre stones loom abruptly from the exhausted earth. Most of them are carved with bizarre and delicate images – mainly of animals and birds. One image is a sexualised representation of a woman. Sinuous serpents are another common motif. The stones themselves seem to represent men – some have stylised ‘arms’, which angle down their sides. So far, 43 stones have been dug out. They are arranged in circles from 5–10m (16–32ft) across. Around the circles are benches of rock, smallish niches, and walls of mud brick. The unearthed megaliths stand 1–4m (3.3–13ft) high.

There are indications that more is to come. A few years ago, Schmidt and his team found a very weathered, half-quarried, T-shaped stone lying in a limestone bed, 1km (0.6 miles) from the main site. This enormous stone is 9m (30ft) long, and was, it seems, designed to join the other pillars at Gobekli. “The stone is cracked, so it must have broken,” Schmidt explains. “When this happened the builders probably left it and started on another.” All of which means there may be other stones of similar size as yet undiscovered; indeed, geomagnetic surveys of the various artificial hills at Gobekli Tepe imply that there are at least 250 more standing stones waiting to be excavated."

What is even more interesting about the site is that is also the area from which einkorn wheat originated. Einkorn wheat is the wild purcursor to modern domesticated wheat. Schmidt theorizes that the large number of hunters gathering at the site for religious activitities may have exhausted game animals and turned to the wild ceral crops for a food resource. In other words, the hunters turned to farming and herding to support the population gathering at their religious site. The domesticated pig has been also traced to the area nearby, within 100 miles. However, the switch to farming and herding had a ecological impact. The rich savanna and forests existant at the time began to wither as forest were chopped down to clear the area for farming and the soil was depleted. Sometime near 8000 BCE, the temple complex was deliberately buried by the local inhabitants.

Much more here, which includes the quote above.

And also here.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-19T07:36:00.000-06:00

Denny: Canada, Japan, England. Any number of those pinko countries, I'd be in jail for shooting somebody.
Alan: God bless America.

Economic Woes Threaten Chinese Government

2008-11-18T11:10:00.000-06:00

Joshua Kurlantzick at The New Republic (good lord, never dreamed I'd be linking this outfit) examines how the global financial meltdown has effected the growing Chinese middle class, and they are not very happy.

"As the global financial crisis hits Western consumers' wallets, orders for the Delta's products have dried up. And angry factory workers, many owed back pay, have taken to the streets. In one recent incident, some 300 suppliers and creditors "descended on the River Dragon complex [a factory where the owners vanished] looting warehouses in the hopes of salvaging something," As USA Today reported.

This unrest is likely to spiral. As the Chinese economy sours for the first time in years, the government this week announced a $586 billion stimulus package. But in some ways, much more is at stake: While, in the U.S., a financial failure would simply mean another dent in George W. Bush's reputation, in China it could mean the breakdown of the entire political order."

While political unrest in China has been widespread in rural areas, (often instigated by widespread pollution and local government land grabs) the growth areas along the eastern coast have been largely silent in return for the jobs and growing incomes fed by the booming export sector. With up to 40% of the Chinese economy involved in the export sector, the economy has taken a huge hit as foreign consumers have closed their wallets, leading to shuttered Chinese factories and widespread layoffs. Some 10,000 factories closed over the summer of 2008 and up to 20,000 more could shut down operations by the end of the year. In addition, the Shanghai stock market has dropped almost 70%, from over 6000 to 1800, and the Chinese banking sector is thought to have over a trillion dollars worth of bad loans outstanding. Home prices in some cities have dropped by half.

"the economic downturn is hitting Chinese home prices and urban jobs, too. Those urban middle classes, the key base of support for Beijing, now find their only asset, their first home, is collapsing in value, while their sons and daughters cannot find jobs right out of college. In several major cities, home prices have dropped by more than 50 percent in just the past year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, urban middle class protests over land prices and land evictions are rising in cities like Shanghai too."

In attempts to forstall the unrest, the Chinese government has announced a $586 billion dollar stimulus package, handing out payments to unemployed workers. It can certainly afford the cost, with its $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.However, it migth not be enough, and a Tianamin style crackdown would be difficult with the much larger middle class today as opposed to 1989. Unless the economy turns around fairly quickly, the government could face its first sustained protests. Keeping them separate and local will be paramount for the government to maintain control; if a national movement starts, it could get very, very ugly. While I'm no fan of the regime, I'd much rather see an incremental movement toward democracy than a violent explosion, which could likely wind up dashing even more hopes as we've seen in other former dictatorships such as Russia.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-18T07:34:00.000-06:00

ADA Kupfer: You know if the US really wanted to torture detainees, they'd sentence them to be you for a day. I imagine it's excruciating.
Alan: You have no idea.

Joe Ganz, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week

2008-11-17T13:16:00.003-06:00

The Big 12 Conference rewarded Joe Ganz's performance against Knasas St. with Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. This comes on the heels of last week's Defensive winner also coming from the Huskers in the person of Ndamukong Suh.

"OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Joe Ganz, Nebraska, QB, Sr, Palos Heights, Ill.
Joe Ganz accounted for 365 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in Nebraska’s win at Kansas State. He was 16-25-1 through the air for 270 yards and two touchdowns in addition to rushing for a career-best 95 yards and two scores. Ganz set the NU season record for completions in a game and became the program single-season leader in total offense (3,351 yards). The Palos Heights, Ill., senior has guided Nebraska to at least 30 points in nine of 11 games this season and 12 times in 14 career starts."

Interestingly enough, our opponent has the Big 12 Special Teams Plyer of the Week in Brian Banks, who returned a NU kickoff 98 yards for a score.

"BIG 12 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brandon Banks, Kansas State, KR, Jr, Garner, N.C.
Brandon Banks returned four kickoffs for 167 yards against Nebraska, including a 98-yarder for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The return tied for the second-longest in the Big 12 this season and tied for the longest in league games. It was the 13th kickoff returned for a touchdown in school history and the first since James Johnson went 85 yards for a score at Texas on Sept. 29, 2007."

Baylor's talented LB Joe Pawelek garnered the Defenisve conference honors this week in BU's victory over Texas A & M.

"BIG 12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Joe Pawelek, Baylor, LB, Jr, San Antonio, Texas
Joe Pawelek recorded seven tackles and two interceptions, plus an additional pass break up in Baylor’s victory over Texas A&M. He leads all Bowl Subdivision linebackers with six interceptions, the most by a BU player since 1991. The San Antonio, Texas, junior intercepted a pass for the third straight game and grabbed two picks for the first time in his career. Three of Pawelek’s six interceptions this season have come in the end zone, including one of his two against Texas A&M. He is sixth nationally in tackles per game (11.0)."

Congrats to all the players involved. NU has had two other honorees this season, both on Special teams, Niles Paul on Sept. 8 for his play against San Jose St. and Nate Swift on Sept. 29 for his game against Virginia Tech, both players making big TD returns in the kicking game for NU.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-17T07:33:00.000-06:00

Denny: I hear you misplaced a client.
Alan: Not really. Like car keys and sunglasses, he'll show up somewhere.

Milt Friedman

2008-11-14T11:54:00.000-06:00

Peter Robinson at Forbes relates a story regarding the famous economist Milt Freidman. Robinson had complimented Friedman for postively influencing economic thought against the socialist model, but Friedman disagreed.

"Academia as a whole may have continued its long, sorry wobble to the left, I continued, but the economics profession had proved an exception, moving the other way. Departments of economics across the country now grasped the importance of free markets. "Mises, Hayek, Stigler and you," I told Friedman. "You've transformed the intellectual climate. You've won."

Friedman shook his head. "We may have won the intellectual battle," he replied, "but in practical politics, it's difficult to see that we've had any effect at all." Government spending had continued to grow, he explained. After a pause during the Reagan years, regulations had once again proliferated. For a moment, Friedman grew silent. Then he looked at me.The challenge for my generation," he said, "was to provide an intellectual defense of liberty. The challenge for your generation is to keep it." "

Robinson then recounts his disappointment with the marginal accomplishments of the Republican Congress and President, a list which makes you wonder if they were Republicans at all. The Medicare drug benefit. The farm bill. Huge discretionary spending increases. The nomination of John McCain, primarily responsible for the most signifigant threat to the First Amendment in the nation's history.

And now it just gets worse. There is the proposed auto bailout, which the current administration seems inclined to sign even before the new one takes office. Federalizing the healthcare industry. The proposed tax rebates for nearly half the population. Collectivization at its worst in the form of card check regulaiton and the Fairness doctrine. So much for freee markets and individual liberty.

Maybe I finally decide to make that trip to Australia and check things out Down Under.

First Photographed Exoplanets

2008-11-14T07:42:00.000-06:00

the OWH reports that two separate teams of astronomers have directly imaged 4 exoplanets in two different star systems. A team led by Bruce MacIntosh of Livermore National Labs used two ground based telescopes and the other team used Hubble imagery. The system studied by the MacIntosh team managed to image three distinct planets in a single system, while the Hubble imagery was able to compare photos taken in 2006 with another taken from 2004 to show that planet's orbit lies within the system's dust ring, making it quite unlikely to be a brown dwarf, an alternative explanation that some of their more skeptical fellow researchers have proposed for these bodies. All four planets are Jupiter type gas giant planets.

"The planet discovered by Hubble is one of the smallest exoplanets found yet. It's somewhere between the size of Neptune and three times bigger than Jupiter. And it may have a Saturn-like ring.

It circles the star Fomalhaut, pronounced FUM-al-HUT, which is Arabic for "mouth of the fish." It's in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and is relatively close by - a mere 148 trillion miles away, practically a next-door neighbor by galactic standards. The planet's temperature is around 260 degrees, but that's cool by comparison to other exoplanets.

The planet is only about 200 million years old, a baby compared to the more than 4 billion-year-old planets in our solar system. That's important to astronomers because they can study what Earth and planets in our solar system may have been like in their infancy, said Paul Kalas at the University of California, Berkeley. Kalas led the team using Hubble to discover Fomalhaut's planet."

The MacIntosh team discovered its first planet in 2007 and follow up study showed the two additional planets. All three planets are several Jupiter masses and ths system astronomical name is HR8799, It is visible form Earth with binoculoars, lies in the constellation Pegasus and is 767 trillion miles from our solar system.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-14T07:31:00.000-06:00

Denny Crane: Ah, Denise. Rodney King?
Denise: Rodney King. Uh, severely beaten by the police over ten years ago.
Denny Crane: See? You remember. Why? Branding! They didn't call him Rodney King: wifebeater, alcohol abuser, who swung a tire iron at a convenience store clerk. They called him Rodney King: a motorist, a motorist: Rodney King. Brings to mind images of a jaunty man riding hat in cap in a Model-T. That's what we want. Russell Blayney: American Homeowner. Not Russell Blayney: eats them broiled, baked or fried.

Endeavor Ready to Launch

2008-11-13T11:19:00.003-06:00

Space shuttle Endeavor leared its pre-flight checks and is ready to launch, possibly as soon as Friday. A cold front entering the area still threatens the schedule but forecasters predict a s60% chance of launch.

"Endeavour and its seven-person crew are set to deliver home improvement equipment that is essential if NASA is to double the size of the space-station crew. The shuttle is loaded with an extra bathroom and kitchenette, two additional bedrooms, another exercise machine and a recycling system that will turn urine into drinking water at the orbiting outpost. The plan is to add three more astronauts to the space station by the middle of next year, making for a permanent crew of six."

The launch needs to occur before Nov. 25th or it would have to be rescheduled for next January due to the angle of the sun when the ISS and shuttle are docked together and potential year end computer glitches.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-13T07:29:00.000-06:00

Denny Crane: Brad's the best. I just made him partner.
Bev: Denny, I want reassurance.
Denny Crane: The man served in the Gulf War. The one that turned out okay. He was top of his class at West Point and Harvard Law School. I'd put my own life in his hands.

Husker News

2008-11-12T11:08:00.004-06:00

Husker coaches handed out Blackshirts for the top 11 defenders at practice yesterday, ten games into the season, based on the level of effort from the victory over KU. Also, starting WILL LB Cody Glenn has been suspended from the team indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules.

"The current Blackshirts are: (Tyler) Wortman, middle linebacker Phillip Dillard, defensive ends Zach Potter, Pierre Allen and Clayton Sievers, defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Ty Steinkuhler, and defensive backs Armando Murillo, Anthony West, Eric Hagg and Larry Asante.

Just 11, and it’s not solely based on starters, as backup Sievers and Hagg, who’ s not officially No. 1 on the depth chart, both got them, while safeties Matt O’Hanlon and/or Rickey Thenarse did not. Weakside linebacker Cody Glenn was indefinitely suspended Tuesday by head coach Bo Pelini."

In other news, bowl speculation is abounding, with Gator Bowl officials saying they would "strongly consider" a 8-4 Husker squad should they win out and the Big 12 land two teams in the BCS bowls. NU has never played in the New Year's Bowl played in Jacksonville, FL. Story on that here.

"the Gator Bowl pits the No. 3 ACC team against one of the following: a Big East school, Notre Dame or, twice every four years, a Big 12 school. Texas Tech came from behind to beat Virginia 31-28 in the game last year. The payout to each team is $2.5 million. Although it’s presumed that the Gator Bowl would select the Notre Dame should the Irish finish 7-5, Catlett (Gator Bowl Association President) said an 8-4 NU team would make a compelling argument.

Under those circumstances, the Huskers would have won five of their last six games. ND, should it lose to USC, would have finished 3-4 to end its season. Nebraska has historically traveled well to any bowl game, and NU nearly matches ND in name recognition. The Irish also hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2008."

While a number of things might happen, the general consensus is that the league will land the winner of the Big 12 Championship game and another school, probably from the South division, (OU/UT/TT) in the BCS. The Cotton Bowl then gets the third selection, likely to be either North division winner Mizzou (should they lose the title game) or another South school and the Holiday Bowl is thought to be interested in Oklahoma State. NU could also end up in the Alamo, Sun or Insight bowls should the Gator decline to pick a Big 12 school.

Economics Doesn't Start in DC

2008-11-12T10:03:00.002-06:00

John Stossel points out the fallacy that economic improvement comes from policies initiated in Washington. The New Deal extended the Great Depression instead of solving it, and wishing it weren't so doesn't change the fact. A Soviet style centralized economy is not the answer to our economic issues and government politicians taking our money and giving it to someone else is no way to create wealth.

"But we cannot raise wages or create jobs or eliminate poverty by executive order. We can do so by freeing people to save and invest and accumulate capital. We can't make medical care universal and inexpensive by legislative fiat. But we can approach that goal by permitting a free market in medicine to work.

Government is force, not eloquence. And force is an attempt to defy economic logic. The consequences are often opposite of those intended. "A subsidy for medical insurance increases the demand for services and raises prices. A price ceiling makes those services less available. A floor under wages makes jobs for unskilled workers more scarce, as employers find it a losing proposition to hire them. A subsidy to production means too much produced relative to something else consumers want. A trade restriction lowers living standards at home and abroad," writes Sheldon Richman on the Foundation for Economic Education website."

Amen.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-12T07:06:00.000-06:00

Judge Paul Resnick: I've had enough of all this. Mr. Crane, you've had no excuse to be carrying a gun.
Denny: 2nd Amendment. Founding Fathers. You probably knew them.

Gingrich & Steel Candidates for RNC Chair

2008-11-11T09:35:00.000-06:00

Ralph Hallow at the Washington Times reports on rumors that former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich and former Maryland Lt. Gov Michael Steel are quietly vying for the job of Republican Committee Chair.

"Neither man will acknowledge his interest in the post, but Republicans close to each are burning up the phone lines and firing off e-mails to fellow party members in an effort to oust RNC Chairman Mike Duncan in the wake of the second consecutive drubbing of Republican candidates at the polls.

A bevy of backers for each man, neither of whom is an RNC member, say the committee needs a leader who can formulate a counter-agenda to President-elect Barack Obama's administration and articulate it on the national stage."

Michael Duncan, the current chair is still considering whether or not to run for the position again. Gingrich is denying his interest, stating he was focused on American Solutions and the Center for Health Transformation, two policy think tanks. Steel is current head of GOPAC, a Republican fund raising group.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-11T07:04:00.000-06:00

Chelina: God, the last time I saw you...
Alan: I believe it was a Sunday. Then I was taken off the air, you went off to do movies, I got switched to Tuesdays and...
Chelina: Here we are...with old footage.

Suh Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

2008-11-10T13:39:00.003-06:00

via HuskerExtra, Husker DT Ndamakong Suh has been named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his preformance Saturday against Kansas. Suh led the Huskers with 12 tackle, 4 for losses and 2 1/2 sacks, and also scored a touchdown playing at fullbakc in a goal line situation and catching a 2 yd TD pass. The Husker line dominated KU as defensive ends Zach Potter and Pierre Allen also had big games. Potter had six tackles, two of them for loss, 1½ sacks and an interception and Allen had seven tackles and a 15-yard sack. Ty Steinkuhler was also solid.

KU was held to 118 yards rushingjust 3 yards a carry and Jayhawk QB Todd Reesing was held to 15-30 passing.

Suh stole the show however. Consider these little nuggets:

"His 12 tackles were the most by a defensive lineman since Titus Adams had that many against Kansas State in 2005.

* His 2½ sacks were a career-high and most by a Husker in 70 games since Demorrio Williams had three against Utah State in 2003.

* His four tackles for loss were the most by a Husker in 38 games since Bo Ruud had five against Kansas State in 2005.

* His team-leading 60 tackles this season are the most by an NU defensive lineman since Ryon Bingham had 67 in 2002. A Husker D-lineman had not led the team in tackles since John Bell had 96 in 1973.

* His average of six tackles a game leads all Big 12 linemen."

Been a long time since we had that kind of defensive effort, major kudos to Suh and the entire defense.

Obama's Secretary of State Candidates

2008-11-10T09:21:00.004-06:00

Real Clear World looks at five of the leading candidates in the incoming Obama administration for the most important of the cabinet level positions, Secretary of State.

The first is former NSC staffer Richard Beers, who served under Presidents Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes. What's that you say, a bi-partisan? No, Beers resigned his post five days before the invasion of Iraq and has now formed a progressive national security think tank called the National Security Network and was alos a campaign advisor to the John Kerry campaign in 2004.

Next under the spotlight is Richard Lugar, Republicna Senator from Indiana who has developed a close relationship with Obama in the Senate. He is the GOP's ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations committee and its former chairman. One of Lugar's signature issues is nuclear proliferation, but it is doubtful he would get the post.

"But appointing a prominent member of the opposition party to be Secretary of State, the top cabinet post in any administration, would be rare if not unprecedented since the early days of the republic. In addition, Lugar has indicated that he would like to serve out his term and then seek re-election in 2012."

The next possibility is yet another Richard, this one former UN Ambassador Holbrooke. However, Holbrooke has a long history of association with the Clintons, being a finalist for Sec State after the departure of Warren Christopher in the Clinton administration (which went to Madeline Albright) and has advised both the Kerry 2004 campaign and Hillary's this election. However, Holbrooke does have signifigant experience in both Asia and Europe, having served as Asst. Sec of State for both regions during his career.

Finally a non Richard, New Mexico Governor and former Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson. Richardson is also a former UN Ambassador and served as Energy Secretary under Clinton, but came out early with an endorsement of Obama and certainly helped Obama carry New Mexico in the election. Richardson, raised in Mexico City, speaks fluent Spanish and would be the first Hispanic appointed to Sec of State.

Then there is the final possibility, one that makes me shudder personally, John Kerry. Kerry was another early and enthusiastic Obama supporter, and is the third ranking Democratic Senator on the Foreign Relations committee. Kerry is also thought to have a good relationship with VP Joe Biden, but did just get re-elected to the Senate.

I'd have to go with Richardson or Holbrooke personally, but there may hav ealready been a deal in the works for Kerry. Ugh.

Shielding Could Allow Long Space Flights

2008-11-10T07:27:00.000-06:00

via National Geographic, new research indicates that even small magnets might allow for the devleopment of radiation shielding that would allow long term manned spaceflight to Mars or beyond.

"One of the greatest dangers facing future astronauts is radiation, much of which comes from the sun via solar wind, a stream of particles from the sun's atmosphere.
Solar flares can be as deadly to life on Earth, and prolonged exposure to lower doses can cause cancer. Until recently, however, scientists thought shielding spacecraft would require an impractically large magnet—one capable of generating a field 60 miles (100 kilometers) or more across."

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-10T07:24:00.001-06:00

Denny: (To Alan) I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous, except for night terrors, clowns and word salad.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-07T07:24:00.000-06:00

Marlene: Denise.
Denise: Marlene.
Marlene: I hear you're getting married.
Denise: I am.
Marlene: Congratulations. It must be a relief to have some financial security. Does Buzz know?
Denise: Buzz?
Marlene: Buzz Lightyear. Isn't that the nickname for the Ken-doll with benefits?
Denise: Marlene, I'm finding it extremely difficult not to assault you right now.
Marlene: [deadpan] Oh, I'm sorry. Am I being too familiar? I thought we were girlfriends. I was hoping the

relationship wouldn't change when I made partner and you didn't but I guess it has. Oh well.

Pence Up For Conference Chair

2008-11-07T07:13:00.002-06:00

via Human Events, Elizabeth Meinecke reports that Republicans in the House make an important move towards rebuilding their brand by nominating Indiana's Mike Pence as Republican Party Conference Chair, the #3 spot in the House. Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Republican Study Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling of Texas both nominated Pence, a former radio talk show host, due to his communications skills.

"The Conference -- formerly chaired by Rep. Adam Putman -- is the medium of communicating the House GOP’s message to the media and American public. It also elects House Republican leadership and is an internal organizer for Republican representatives. The chairman is the voice of his party’s message."

Pence is a former RSC Committee Chair and is running unopposed for the position to this point. Pence serves on the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees in the House.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-06T07:22:00.001-06:00

Denny Crane: This is completely disrespectful. You don't come home to papa by suing his government.
Donny Crane: Someone has to, Dad. Our policy is denying thousands of people life-saving medical care, based on the personal religious views of our leader. Nothing says democracy like imperialism.
Denny Crane: Why can't you for once come to town and we just toss the pigskin? That's American.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-05T07:16:00.001-06:00

Marlene: You missed your ten o'clock.
Alan: Um, something came up.
Marlene: Something was supposed to come up, at the closet, at ten o'clock.
Alan: I've got a few minutes now if you'd like to go somewhere and... grab a bite.

Domestic Drilling

2008-11-04T12:03:00.001-06:00

Livescience takes a look at the domestic drilling issue, noting the US is still the third leading oil producer in the world. Of course, we're also the leading consumer, using 20 million barrels a day while producing 8 million barrels.

"Polls have shown that a majority of Americans want an increase in offshore drilling. In response, Congress let a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling expire at the end of last month. This put into play about 16 billion barrels of oil (or about 21 percent of U.S. offshore resources), according to the Department of Energy (DOE). However, this is just a drop in the bucket.

"We have significant oil and natural gas resources here in the United States," said Richard Ranger, a senior policy advisor for the American Petroleum Institute. He quoted government estimates that say federal lands have 116.4 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil, which could power 65 million cars for 60 years."

They also point out that new techniques are allowing old wells to continue to produce, such as injuecting water or carbon dioxide into wells, known as EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery). EOR techniques could put as much as 240 billion barrels into production in the US according to a 2006 estimate. They also point out the potential of unconventional resources such as oil sands and oil shale, which oculd add nearly 2 trillion barrels to domestic supplies.

Go Vote!

2008-11-04T09:15:00.002-06:00

Whatever your beliefs and/or affiliations, be a good citizen and vote.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-04T06:49:00.000-06:00

Ivan: I brought wine, cheese, and condoms. I thought we'd picnic.
Shirley: Missy came to my office today.
Ivan: Aw. So just the wine and cheese.

Twin of Solar system Discovered

2008-11-03T06:48:00.003-06:00

VIa OWH, astronomers have found evidence of a solar system much like our own, and it is relatively close in galactic terms. The system Epsilon Eridani, just 10.5 light years from Earth and the eighth closest to our sun has been observed to have two rings of rocky asteroids in oribit around it, somewhat like the geography of our solar system, and an icy outer ring consistent with our Kyper Belt. The gaps in the rings are likely spots for planets to lurk, and the inner ring is 3 astronomical units from the star, just as in our solar system.

"Epsilon Eridani is much younger than the sun — about 850 million years old, compared with 4.5 billion years for our system.

"This really is a system like our solar system was when it was five times younger than it is now," said one of the discoverers, Massimo Marengo, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. "It's like a time machine for our solar system."

"This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth," said Dana Backman of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., the lead author of a report to be published Jan. 10 in the Astrophysical Journal.

SETI chose Epsilon Eridani as one of the first targets in its long — but so far fruitless — search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence in 1960. The suspected planets are too far away to be detected directly, so their presence has to be inferred by indirect measurements."

At least one and perhaps three or more planets may be in orbit around the star, which is in the constellation Eridanus near Orion. The star is a bit smaller and cooler than our Sun, bringing the star's habitable zone closer to it than our own system. More on the discovery at Livescience here.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-11-03T06:48:00.002-06:00

Denny: I hear you misplaced a client.
Alan: Not really. Like car keys and sunglasses, he'll show up somewhere.

Hubble Working, Repair Mission Moved to May 09

2008-10-31T09:32:00.002-05:00

The Hubble Space Telescope is now working utilizing its now functional backup communicaitons array to continue its science missions. However, the repair mission originally scheduled for October that was rescheduled for February has met yet another delay. The backup component for the primary array that was sitting on a shelf here on good old planet Earth failed its system checks and a new one need to be manufactured - a six month process.

In a bit of better news, shuttle Endeavor has been cleared for its scheduled Nov. 14th launch date to the ISS to deliver supplies and a new crew member, along with the logistical equipment to allow for a doubling of the station's crew from three to six.

Cool.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-31T08:44:00.000-05:00

Jeffrey: I assured him the police never arrest innocent people. Just doesn't happen. I'm sure you in particular are never wrong.
Cop: I thought you came down here to cooperate?
Jeffrey: You killed the moment.
Cop: I can officially detain him.
Jeffrey: In which case he officially asks for he's lawyer and you can't talk to him. What is this? Good cop bad cop? If so, send in the good cop!
Cop: [Stare]
Jeffrey: That's quite a look.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

Denny Crane: So? Who would you rather have as your attorney? Me? Or Hacky McGuilty Verdict here?
Warren Peter: I've faced him before. You'd rather have him.
Denny Crane: Don't feel bad, son. It takes a big man to recognize a bigger man.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-29T07:42:00.000-05:00

Alan: There's no doubt in my mind that you could develop into a first rate criminal defender, Jerry. But my hope is that you don't. Even at your relatively mature age you're still innocent.
Jerry: Except when I held a knife to Shirley's throat.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

Ivan: So basically if I screw around she gets my life.
Shirley: Not your whole life, just the parts you love.

Elect Obama and Pay More Taxes

2008-10-27T07:23:00.003-05:00

Ned Barnett at The American Thinker points out the Four big lies regarding Obama's claim to only raise taxes on those making $250,000 a year or more. First, by letting the Bush Tax cuts expire , people making as little as $25,000 a year will see an effective tax increase. The Obama compaign claims letting a tax cut lapse is not really a tax increase, but it still effects my take home pay.

Second, Obama has proposed increasing the cap on the Social Security payroll tax, currently capped at S94,700 for a single individual in order to further fund the program, to the tune of $1 trillion - and thus increasing taxes on those people making between that $94k figure and $250k.

Thirdly, he has promised to increase the cpaitla gains tax, currently at 15%, to 20%. But a great many more Americans hav emoney invested in the stock market and other financial instruments.

"However, while only 1 percent of Americans make a quarter-million dollars, roughly 50 percent of all Americans have capital investments -- through IRAs, 401Ks, in pension plans and in personal portfolios. Most of that half of all Americans will feel this rise in their capital gains taxes.

Under "President" Obama, if you sell off a $100,000 investment -- perhaps to help put your children through college -- instead of paying $15,000 in capital gains taxes today, you'll pay $20,000 under Obama's plan. That's a full one-third more, and it applies no matter how much you earn."

Fourth, Obama has promised the increase taxes on corporations - but corporate taxes are paid not by corporations, but the customers of those coporations - meaning you and me. As Barnett puts it:

"When you buy a hot dog from a 7/11, you can see the clerk add the sales tax, but when a corporation's own taxes go up, you don't see it -- its automatic -- but they do the same thing. They build this tax into their product's price. Senator Obama knows this. He knows that even people who earn less than $250,000 will pay higher prices -- those pass-through taxes -- when corporate taxes go up."

Barnett finishes with a nice talbe showing a person's tax rates in 2000, 2003, 2004, and a projected figure for 2010 for someone (or a couple) making $25k, $50k, and $75k, all middle class incomes and the effects of the changes. And all show a four figure increase in tax payments, despite all the rhetorical flourishes.

Again, look at the bottom line.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-27T07:15:00.001-05:00

Denny: Does that mean you're back on the market?
Shirley: Denny, as far you're concerned I'm always on the market.

2nd Attempt Made for Hubble Fix

2008-10-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

Science operations appear to be on track to resume after a second attempt to fix a glitch on the Hubble Space Telescope looks to be successful. The initial failure came from the failure of the primary communications array on the observatory. NASA attempted to bring the backup array online last week but it failed due to a voltage problem which caused the computer system and array to both reset. If the computer system stays online this week, science operations will resume next week. The initial issue caused the scheduled Hubble repair mission last month to be postponed until next spring.

"The initial glitch with the Side A relay channel postponed the planned Oct. 14 launch of the space shuttle for its next, and last, Hubble repair mission until early 2009. Every month that the shuttle mission to service Hubble is delayed costs NASA $10 million, mission managers have said.

When the astronauts do get up to Hubble, they hope to replace the tray that houses both Sides A and B. The mission is also slated to install a new camera, replace gyroscopes and batteries, upgrade Hubble's guidance equipment and add a docking ring.

One week after two anomalous events caused a snag in NASA's attempt to revive the Hubble Space Telescope, the orbital observatory is nearly back up and running, with science operations set to resume this weekend."

Neal Boortz on the Election

2008-10-24T09:10:00.000-05:00

Right-leaning libertarian and talk radio host Neal Boortz speaks to undecided voters and makes the case for John McCain. (HT: RCP) It's a pretty long article, I'll try to just hit the highlights but read the whole thing, it's a pretty good summary of the reasons I will definitely not be voting for "the One". First he talks about his own voting history and the stakes.

"Never in those ten elections can I remember choices so stark and possible outcomes so perilous. For the record, over those 10 elections I voted for the Republican candidate six times and the Libertarian four. Never have I voted for a Democrat for president. I see no need to vote for a Democrat since I have no plans or desires to become a ward of the government."

Amen to that. I've never voted Democratic for the Presidential race, although I have for US Senate in the past. Personally, I tend to vote for the guy that claims he wants less of my money. All politicians want at least some of it.

Boortz discusses the race issue, and I have to agree that its understandable that a black person may desire to vote for a black candidate. He also disagrees (as I do) with the notion that if you vote against a black man, you're a racist. That's a huge bunch of bull. For example, I would vote for Ken Blackwell or Michael Steele in a hearbeat, and I donoted money to each in their last races for elective office. Boortz also examines his issues with the Republican party, which I tend to agree with - the bloat of the Federal bureaucracy and the profligate spending over the years 1994-2006 was...infuriating.

Boortz also discusses some of the rather questionable associations that Obama has and notes that those associations would disqualify Obama from serving on his own security detail becuase he couldn't get a security clearance. Yet he is in line to become our commander in chief.

Then he gets to the meat of the matter for me - tax policy, and notes the disconnect between the rhetoric and the facts on the ground. First he notes that the government takes your money at the point of a gun (or prison time), and you really don't have a choice in the matter, you're a customer whether you like it or not. And Obama really likes the idea of taking your money and giving it to someone else.

"Obama was asked if he understood that tax increases have often resulted in decreases in government revenue. Obama responded that he was aware of this fact. He was then asked why, then, would he be so eager to raise taxes? Obama responded that, to him, tax increases were simply a matter of "fairness." In other words, Obama didn't wish to use the police power of the state to collect taxes necessary for the legitimate functions of government; he wanted to use his taxing power to promote some vaporous "fairness" in our economy. After all, as Obama put it, the people he wants to tax have more money than they actually need and he wants to give that money to people who really do need it.

Now I ask you, does any of that sound vaguely familiar? Hmmmmm, let's see. I know I've heard something like that somewhere before. Wait! I think I have it. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Some character named Marx made slogan quite popular around 1875 in a writing called "Critique of the Gotha Program." This phrase is one of the most well-known principals of communism. You can yell, scream, spin around on your eyebrows and spit wooden nickels all you want, but what Barack Obama is pushing here, at least insofar as his tax policies are concerned, is communism. This shouldn't come as a surprise considering Obama's self-professed affinity for communist student groups and communist professors during his undergraduate years."

Boortz goes on to say that government is an unpleasant fact of life, and you can argue the relative merits of the proper role of government are, but it is a necessity at some level. But government should not be involved in creating winners and losers, or plundering my wealth to give it to some lazy shmuck unwilling to work but whose vote is being purchased. What is fair, and who determines who is in need?

"Listen to the rhetoric of the left. Those who are in need are called "the less fortunate." This means that their status as needy was due to nothing but bad luck. It stands to reason, then, that those with more than they need were just lucky. The fortunate and the less fortunate. The lucky and the not so lucky. And here comes Barack Obama riding over the rainbow on his Unicorn to set everything right and make it all fair. Isn't that the world you want to live in?"

Not me. He also notes the old quote about how democracy works only until the point the majority decides to vote itself bread and circuses, until such point there are neither bread or circuses.

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

It appears to many we are fast approaching the point where the collapse of the Republic is inevitable. And if you think the economy is in the tank now, just wait until the 5% Obama is talking about raising taxes on starts to cut expenses in their businesses, just watch the jobs disappear. 80% of all new jobs come from small businesses, and these are the people with the targets on their back.

"The WSJ reports that the National Federation of Independent Business says that only 10% of small businesses with one to nine employees will be hit by Obama's tax increase. However, almost 20% of the small businesses that employ from 10 to 19 people will get nailed, and 50% of small businesses with over 20 employees get punished.

Again ... it is not the percentage of businesses that will have to pay the increased taxes; it's the percentage of the total of small business employees who work for those businesses. The Obama campaign is counting on you not making that distinction; and they know the media won't make it for you; so Obama's "95% of all small businesses don't make $250,000" line will probably rule the day."

Boortz goes on to talk about unions and the Card Check legislation that will eliminate secret ballots on union votes in the workplace and how the Supreme Court would look after an Obama administration. Yikes.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-24T08:24:00.000-05:00

Denny: I misplaced a client once.
Alan: Did they ever find him?
Denny: No, I made sure to ship him off to some country with no extradition. Practically a deserted island off the coast of South America. He sends me Feliz Cumpleanos cards every year.
Alan: That's thoughtful. Sounds like paradise actually. Living on an island. A much simpler life.
Denny: Especially if it's an island where the natives run around the beach with their boobies hanging out.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-23T07:20:00.001-05:00

Brad: Okay. We're required to turn this over to Ms. Beller and, per the rules of discovery, we'll provide it with the other one hundred thousand pages of documents that pertain to their production request.
Chris Mott: So you're going to bury it.
Brad: No, that would be unethical. We'll simply comply… fully.

India Lanuches Moon Mapping Spacecraft

2008-10-22T09:01:00.003-05:00

via MSNBC, the nation of India has launched a spacecraft intended to provide much clearer mapping of the Moon. The science instruments are intended to not only map the surface, but examine the subsurface for minerals. It is India's first lunar mission, and the craft carries two instruments designed in partnership with US Sapce Agency NASA.

"Until now, India's space launches have mainly carried weather warning satellites and communication systems, said former NASA associate administrator Scott Pace, director of space policy at the George Washington University. "You're seeing India lifting its sights," Pace said. While much of the technology involved in reaching the moon has not changed since the Soviet Union and the U.S. did it more than four decades ago, analysts say new mapping equipment allows the exploration of new areas, including below the surface."

Japan and China have also both launched recent missions to the Moon, and the US is expected to follow with its Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter next year. The most comperehensive current lunar maps are those made over 40 years ago for the Apollo misisons. While the poles of Mars have been thoroughly mapped, the lunar poles have yet to be, even though one plan for a manned expedition to the moon involves construction of a settlement at the south pole. China has also put a man in space and conducted a spacewalk, and demonstrated an anti-satellite capability in earth's orbit in an effort to gain international prestige. India's space program appears to be designed more in efforts to develop technology and economic advantage.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-22T07:02:00.000-05:00

Denny: So whose ass did you have kicked?
Alan: Someone whose ass thoroughly deserved it.
Denny: Good! I can never understand why people don't use violence more often to solve their problems. Works every time.

Could the Huskers Win the North?

2008-10-21T09:50:00.005-05:00

I haven't mentioned the Huskers in a while, but have been keeping track of the progress the team has made over the first half of the season. While a 4-3 record isn't going to bring back memories of the Osbourne era, the team has appeared to make signifigant progress on both sides of the ball the last two weeks since the blowout by Mizzou. First they took Texas Tech, the 7th ranked team in the nation at the time, into overtime only to have QB Joe Ganz throw an intereception when it appeared the team could slip by the Raiders after they missed the PAT after their overtime TD. Last week NU played its most complete game of the season, running for over 200 yards, throwing for another 300 and holding the Clones to 218 total yards and giving up only a 60 plus yard TD run in the third quarter in winning 35-7. This leaves NU at 1-2 in the conference, but trailing only KU (which is 2-1) in the North standings. Pre-season North favorite Missouri is also 1-2 after losing to Texas and Okie St.

First of all, I don't expect this to happen, but only want to point out it is possible while highly improbable. Admittedly, NU winning the North would be a pretty wild stretch, but it could happen if everything happens to go the Huskers way. Mizzou still has the inside track with games upcoming against CU, @ Baylor, K St, @ ISU and finishing with the Kansas border war. They could win out, but should they stumble against CU & KU, they finish 4-4. KU is at 2-1 but has a brutal schedule upcoming against TT, K St, @ NU, Texas and finishing at UM. Another stretch, but should they lose to Tech, NU, and UT while beating K St & Mizzou, they would also finish 4-4. CU is also 1-2 right now after edging K St last week. They travel to UM and A&M, get ISU and OSU at home before finishing against the Huskers. With another improbable series of events where CU wins the first three and loses the last two, they also finish 4-4. K St is also hanging at 1-2, but I do not see them making any kind of run facing OU, @ KU, @ UM, NU and then finishing with ISU, the only game of the five I see them winning. ISU is 0-3 and the only game I see them possibly winning is this week against A&M. They go to OSU and CU then get UM and K St at home to end the season.

This leaves NU, which has an admittedly long road to travel to get there; given the way things have clicked recently it does make the rose colored glasses stylish again and the Kool-aid taste sweet. This is a wildly optimistic projection, but crazy things happen in college football. NU can finish 5-3 in conference play and win the North if they win out and lose to OU, beating Baylor, KU, @ K St and CU. OU on the road is an almost impossible game for us to win, but K St there and the rest of the games in Lincoln is certainly within the realm of possibility, although KU will be a tough game for us to win. We could also wind up going 2-3 (beating BU & K St) to finish the season just as easily, but I think bowl eligibility is certainly in the cards.
The key game for this whole scenario I am envisioning is this week with the CU-UM game whereby CU pulls off the upset. Rooting for CU is a nearly impossible task for me, but I am learning the dislike the Tigers nearly as much. Obviously, the other key game is NU-KU and the Huskers will have to play their best game of the season.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-21T07:20:00.000-05:00

Shirley: Denny. You cheated on your wife at your own wedding reception in what has become some sort of cloakroom fetish-that is a new low, even for you.
Denny Crane: Yeah. It is, isn't it?

Nuclear is the Future of Energy

2008-10-20T12:52:00.003-05:00

William tucker has a great article on nuclear energy and why it is superior to fossil fuels and other alternatives. Fossil fuels are concentrated solar energy from fossilized plants and animals that lived long ago. Burning coal is approximately twice as dense in terms of energy compared to burning wood, and oil or natural gas is twice as dense as coal. Wind power, solar and other "renewables" are actually less dense than wood - by a factor of more than 10. Sunlight reaching the ground on a squre yard of the Earth's surface is only enough to power a single 100 watt light bulb, so thousands of acres of land would be required to replace even one conventional power plant. Of course, it isn't sunny all the time either. Wind faces the same issues - the wind isn't always blowing and enormous amounts of land are required to replace a conventional power facility. Biofuels use up around 30% of one of our primary food crops and replace only 3% of our oil needs.

As for nuclear power, read it and weep.

"Remember, when we talked about the energy density of fossil fuels and renewables we talked in factors of 2 thru 50. Do you know what the density factor is for uranium? It’s 2 million. A pound of uranium gives you 2 million times as much energy as a pound of coal. That means you can run a whole city for a week with a lump of uranium you can hold in one hand. In fact a 110-car “unit train” of coal has more energy in the uranium traces in the coal than in the coal itself.

Let’s see what this means in practice. The average 1,000-megawatt coal plant must be fed by a unit train arriving at the plant every day. Such trains now leave Cheyenne, Wyoming every 12 minutes carrying coal from the Powder River Basin to power plants from Nevada to Arkansas. More than half the nation’s rail freight is now coal. In fact, it’s straining the whole infrastructure and we may have to build new rail lines before long.

Now lets’ look at nuclear. A 1000-MW nuclear reactor is refueled by a single tractor-trailer arriving at the plant once every eighteen months. The fuel rods are only mildly radioactive and can be handled with gloves. Over their four-and-a-half-year life cycle those fuel rods will put zero greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the coal plant across town will spew 3 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That’s why we have a problem of global warming."
2
How in the world is this possible? e=mc , that's how. A very tiny amount of matter can be transformed into a great deal of energy. Chemical reactions, such as burning fossil fuels, occur in the outer electron shell of the atom. Electrons are around 1/1800ths of an atomic mass, the rest lies in the nucleus - thus the amazing amount of energy available in "splitting atoms". The end result is that nuclear is two to twenty times less less impactive to the environment.

What about the dangers, you ask? Well, the uranium used in nuclear reactors is the 235 variety, while the most common occuring naturally is the 238 isotope. Only .7% of natural uranium is -235, so a difficult refining process is necessary in order to obtain the necessary quantities to sustain a nuclear reaction, which is 3% in a conventional reactor. If you want to build a nuclear bomb, the necessary percentage is much, much higher - in excess of 90%. So there is no chance of your local power station going up in a mushroom cloud.

What about nuclear waste, you ask? That term is realistically a misnomer - there is no such thing. Most of the material (95%) that comes out of a nuclear reactor is completely harmless U-235 that occurs naturally and the other 5% was recycled until the Carter Administration decided to outlaw it. Many of the minor actinides (2%) are actually useful in medical applications, but we import all of ours from Canada now because we can't reprocess our own nucelar fuel. The French also make big moeny selling their reprossessed nuclear fuel, exporting it all over Europe and to Japan.

"Almost everything in a spent fuel rod can be recycled. The U-235 can be used again for fuel. So can the plutonium. Among the fission products and minor actinides there are lots of useful isotopes used in medicine and industrial procedures. Forty percent of all medical procedures now involve some radioactive isotope and nuclear medicine is a $250-billion industry."

All of France's nuclear waste from 25 years of producing 75% of its electricity by nculear power is stored in a single room in the basement of The Hague. One reason we got out of the reprossessing field was the fear of nuclear prolifieration, but that is almost impossible - the vast majority of the plutonium that results from commercial reactors can't be weaponized. It takes a special reactor to create the Plutonium-239 that is used to make a nuclear weapon, which is exactly what the Russians were up to a Chernobyl. Nuclear engineers know all this, but the debate has been dominated by the environmental lobby so pervasively that all the facts have been shoved under the rug. It sort of reminds one of the "settled science" of the Climate change myth, doesn't it?

Justice Thomas on Constitution & Judging

2008-10-20T09:17:00.009-05:00

Justice Thomas has some excellent points to make about the judiciary and the Constitution. He notes that people were comfortable with making sacrifices when JFK asked what you could do for your country - due in no small part to the Great Depression, World War Two and the Civil rights movement. People were used to making sacrifices for the good of society and the nation, but attitudes have changed since that time, it's all about the individual today. What's in it for me. Most discussion of sacrifice involve "spreading the wealth around" by way of increased taxation from those who earn their way to those who do not. What must your country do for you brings to mind the proper role of government in society. Thomas also notes that many citizens talk endlessly about their rights, but have almost no clue as to what those rights actually are as enshrined in the legal system.

"I have been astounded just how many of our fellow citizens feel strongly about their constitutional rights but have no idea what they are, or for that matter, what the Constitution says. I am not suggesting that they become Constitutional scholars -- whatever that means. I am suggesting, however, that if one feels strongly about his or her rights, it does make sense to know generally what the Constitution says about them. It is at least as easy to understand as a cell phone contract -- and vastly more important."

The framers established, to the best of their ability, a government with limited powers to best preserve the liberty of the citizens and allow them to prosper. Toward this end, they wrote the Constitution, which has been amended but not signifigantly changed over the history of our nation. The document provides for a government by the people with distributed powers between the three branches of government at the national level and leaves all powers not explicitly mentioned in the document to the states under the principle of federalism. The two political branches were constrained by the people due to the elective process, but the judiciary was viewed as the least dnagerous and given lifetime appointment to confirm their independence and impartiality from the political process. However, this also insultes judges from accountability.

This leads to the question of how to measure the performance of judges and how to interpret their role. As Thomas relates, there is no definitive way to do interpet the Constitution, and some persons believe that the best way to determine this is whether or not they personally find the policy being favorable. This belief is certainly behind the contention in the selection of judges throughout the confirmation process. He points out the flwa in the thinking, and then sums up the two ways to interpret the most important legal document in the land:

"Those who think this way often seem to believe that since this is the way they themselves think, everyone must be doing the same thing. In this sense, legal realism morphs into legal cynicism....there are really only two ways to interpret the Constitution -- try to discern as best we can what the framers intended or make it up. No matter how ingenious, imaginative or artfully put, unless interpretive methodologies are tied to the original intent of the framers, they have no more basis in the Constitution than the latest football scores."

Amen to that.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-20T09:17:00.001-05:00

Paul: Doing nothing is what I'll regret most. I have devoted my life to keeping this firm an outstanding institution. Now, in the twilight of my career, this, this mess could destroy my reputation. All because Denny cannot control his aged groin.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-17T07:09:00.000-05:00

Denny Crane: Don't like that kind of thinking. Defense of self. You gotta strike first. Pre-empt 'em. What they say in the news? Victim or vigilante? It's neither. This is Russell Blayney, hero!'
Denise: You wanna try this case in the press?
Denny Crane: Exactly. I wanna grab the public's attention. The story. Character. Narrative. We have to create our own reality. You! Young punk. You must know computers. Set up a website, one of those blobs. Justice for Russell Blayney! And you, Denise, you'll be my second. You look good on camera.

Boston Legal Quotes

2008-10-16T07:06:00.000-05:00

Denny: Alan you know the one thing we sometimes forget is no matter how hard your day, no matter how tough your choices were, how complex your ethical decisions...you always get to choose what you want for lunch.
Alan: Daily I am amazed at your inexhaustable ability to just live.
Denny: It's either that or die.

Husker FB

2008-10-15T08:58:00.002-05:00

OWH looks into the Husker Football notes for the week. Biggest news is that Linebackers Cody Glenn and Phil Dilliard practiced this week after being absent from the field in the loss to Texas Tech last Saturday and that soph Javario Burkes has earned the starting left tackle spot over fellow soph Mike Smith. The offense is also running sprint drills for every penalty that occurs on the field after another game in which a strong effort was plagued by far too many yellow hankies. One gem out of the game against Tech was the emergence of Meno Holt in the receiving corps. Holt had a career high 6 catches for 55 yards. Also of note, Coach Bo flashed signs he is relaxing a bit more in front of the local media.

"Pelini, apparently, is growing more comfortable with the setting at his weekly press conference. On Tuesday, he was quick to joke with the news media. Here's a sampling:

Q: Are the Huskers a dangerous football team?
Pelini: "Dangerous to themselves or to somebody else?"

Q: How will the Iowa State offense attack NU?
"I don't know," Pelini said. "Could you get into their practice and come back and tell me?"

Q: Does Nebraska's lack of execution often drive him nuts?
"Yeah, but it always does," the coach said. "By the end of the week, you can usually put me in a rubber room." "